Eight Amherst Powerlifting Club members will be lifting bar-bending weights Saturday at the Wandlyn Inn. Five of the members of the club (from left) Jeff Zambello, Nathan Robertson, Lucas Chapman (kneeling), Stan Wilban, and Matt Watson, are seen here at a competition in Maine. Submitted

AMHERST – Thousands of pounds of heavy metal will soon be transported from the Amherst Powerlifting Club to the Wandlyn Inn in preparation for the 2013 Atlantic Canadian Pro/Amateur Power Challenge on Saturday.

“This will be the biggest event we’ve hosted,” said Trayci Metzger, event coordinator. “We have new equipment, a lot of prizes and a lot of sponsors.”

Fifty-five athletes are registered for the event, coming from as far away as the southern U.S. and Ontario.

Eight lifters from the Amherst Powerlifting Club are competing, including Paul Fury and his wife Cindy, and brothers Nic and Lucas Chapman. The event is a Canadian Powerlifting Federation qualifier for the Canadian team at the world championships.

“We’re hoping to break a lot of Canadian records,” said Metzger. “I’ve prepared 30 record attempt sheets for the day.”

Notable lifters attending the event are Dallas Hogan, a strongman from Ontario, and Grant Connors, a strongman from Kentville.

Connors is a seven-time Canada's strongest man, who does a 550-pound raw bench press

Also attending the event is Pete Rubish, a junior lifter from Wisconsin. Rubish has an 800-pound deadlift and 650-pound squat.

The club hosted the Armageddon competition in October, and every event they host is getting bigger.

The club will host another Armageddon competition in October, and then next June they will host the Nationals, which is a three-day competition.

“Powerlifters have nowhere else to go right now,” said Metzger. “We’re the only ones hosting CPF competitions within the Maritimes.”

There are several different powerlifting federations but Metzger says the CPF uses more modern safety equipment.

“I think we’re attracting the younger crowd,” she said. “If it weren’t for us the closest they could compete is in Maine.”

Saturday’s Power Challenge begins at 10 a.m. at the Wandlyn Inn, and runs until about 7 p.m.